Floor fill and method of installing the same



June 26, 1928.

H. S. ASHENHURST FLOOR FILL AND M ETHOD' OF INSTALLING THE SAME FiledFeb Patented ,lime 26, 192s(Y fi UNITED j :sTATE-S .OFFICE-f y HAROLD s.AsIInNH-URST, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, 'A'ssIGNOIe BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS,

ATo INSULEX CORPORATION, WARE.

Application led yFebruary My-V invention relates to theart 'ofc'O'ln-jkstructing buildings and particular-lyv tofa method of imbeddingand'holding -sleepers by the use of light weight plastic material.V

It is customary in all cases Where awood floor is to be laid to providesuitably spaced sleepersto which the floor boards may be nailed. Inorder tofk provide a"means for holdingthe-sleepers, particularlyy forfioors of monolithic character, it is customary to provide eitheranchors Vwhich are embedded inthe concrete while still plastic, or toprovide a plastic mass adapted to be poured between and around thesleepers. The latter practice isfollowed in many instances where the'floor base is composed of tile, woodfor other material insteadl ofconcrete. The practice of embedding the sleepers is consideredpreferable to other forms fwhere a firmk and well supported ,lloorisfrequired, and itis to this branch of the artmthat my invention relates.l

'gilt has been customarylfor many years toy provide ra fill forthesleepers, consisting of so-called,cinder-concrete. However, thismaterial while cheaper than concrete is relatively expensive, veryheavy, has limited insulating qualities and. cannot beused incontactAwith iron pipesorconduits, this for the reason that certain acidspresent in the .fcom-l poundrreact on and cause deterioration of theiron. Y

' An object of,Y myinvention is to utilize a substance similarto thatdisclosed in my Reissue( Patent No. 15,952 ofpNovember 25,

1924, and to installfthe same byk a novel' method which will nowbedisclosed.

One of the most important advantages in the method and substance used inconnection therewith is that arising from the elimination of the`labor'cost fof tamping.- In the-use o of cinder concrete, it isnecessaryafter pour- Aing to employ some. means for forcin the plasticmaterial beneath and aroun the sleepers in order to secure a firmandfcontinuous supporting base. This is'usually accomplished by tamping.In the method here disclosed, the tamping step :is .unnecessary as thematerial rises into` Contact with vevery point .on the under surfacel ofthe sleeper and finally surrounds the sleeper in intimate contact withall faces thereof except the top. j

A desirable result so far as supporting and retaining the sleepers areconcerned maybe secured even if kthe material does not Hrise to.to'jsuch point ythat/the subsequent rising of .11o o or CHICAGO,ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION ork :DELA-v yFLOOR FILL AND METHODoFIN-SQVTAILING TIIE SAME; i

the levl of'the'tops' ofthe sleepers. A space beneath the floor boardsisunobjectionable in some cases and Amay be allowed vwhere rapidity ofconstruction is essential. be understood that where the fill rises tothe It will" top level of the sleepers, and where the floor is to beimmediatelylaid, a layer of waterproofl paper' should Abe superposedonthe.,

vbut also to provide thehardcrust hereinafter describedj."l Y f Theinventionl will be mor'efreadily understood vby reference to "the`accompanying-f fdrawing, in which,k i

- i Figure 'f1' is a View showing a. sectiony Ithrough ja floor shortlyafter theplastic material lof my invent-ion'hasbeen poured, and Figure 2is a viewl showing the floor in itsy completedv conditionbefore the Hoorboards have beenlaid. A Y In, carrying out the invention, the floorbase, 10, which maybe composed of-concrete,

tile orl Other'm'aterial, hasbeen prepared and?l timbers, 11,laidthereon.'l On these ltimbers Vare vsuperposed sleepers 12, theupper. corners of which Yare'bevelled in the usual man-l ner.` Vith thefloorfin this condition, a mixture is made' of the material of myinvention heretofore identified, to produce arelativelyfluid andeasily-flowing mass. "This is poured into' place and fills the spacevaround the timbers and between the sleepers. Immediately thereafter, aldevice Suchas shown 'in the upper portion ofFigi l` is employed, thedevice ,consisting of a plate or board, 13',k having notches,'14,therein, and provided With a handle, l5. The notches areso shaped thatthey receive the sleepers therein, the depending portion 16 between thenotches serving to spread', level-and partiallygtrowel the upperVsurfaceofthe plastic material. f This must `bedone immediatelyfollowing the pouringv the material will bring the surface substantiallyflush with the top faces of the sleepers.

The screeding and levelling` operation performs another importantfunction; in fact thev most important function from one viewA point. Dueto the character of the material, the act-ion of screeding orvtrovvelling serves to provide a dense and relatively tough top surfacewhich hardens in advance of the complete setting of the body of materialandp'rovides a surface that will bear the Weight of a workman within avery few minutes after the operation is performed. rlhis enables the.rapid`r carrying on of operations in marked contrast to the accustomedloss of time in awaiting the setting and. drying of ein.derconcrete InFig. 2 the body of the material embedding the sleepers is indicated bythe numeral 17, ,whileythe dense tough surface portion is indicated bythe reference numeral18.,V ,p Y p Y 1, A few of the fundamentaladvantages of the material in this situation are: K 1st, No tamping isnecessary in order to secure a iirm support for the sleepers. y

2nd, rlhe material provides not only a fill within which the sleepersareheld, but insulates the floor to a very substantial extent. V3rd,Thematerial is, in addition, a sound deadener, the only vibration beingtransmitted through the connection` of the timbers with th/edtioorbase'.v

Ath, The material compound, compared to other iillers, is relativelyextremely light, weighing approximately only one-fifth that of cinderconcrete. This permits a reduction in the size of the structural membersof the buildingand a consequentY saving in the construction cost. i

5th, The material is inert relative to the iron pipes or conduits and noprovision is necessary for the protection thereof as in the case ofother fills. c

6th, rThe material being relatively soft, access may subsequently begained to pipes or conduits by merely cutting out the fill with an ax orother edged tool, it being unneces sary as in the case of concrete tochip it out.

7th, The cost of the material and the cost of installing it yarematerially less than the total cost of cindei concrete installed, andpipes and conduits are protected from corrosion.

By following the method here disclosed, Vthe material may be quickly andeconomically laid and the surface made as hard and dense as conditionsrequire. As stated,

when the surfaceis treated as described, the

workman may walk thereon within a few minutes after pouring thematerial, and the time required for setting and dryingI is only afraction of that required for concrete. T he screeding device is ofyvery simple construeL tion, and can be' built on the job in accordancewith'testsor other data for determining the depth to make the notches,which is dependent upon the character of material used and the depth ofthe body of material. The work may be carried on by unskill'edlabor. Dueto the rapidity of setting,-three men may work continuously on.successive adja cent sections of'a floor. Relatively small batches ofthe material are mixed and poured in order that a reduction of the timefrom theaddition of the water to the pouring into place may follow.

. l do 4not desire to claim broadlyby this application the idea ofscreeding or'trowelling the top face of a mass of plastic material whichis adapted to expand and set in cellular condition, since this expedientis disclosed and claimed in my co-pending applications Serial No.736,892, filed September 10,

1924, and Serial No. 12,883, tiled March 3, 19:25. Neither dol wish tocover by this application the construct-ion as shown and claimed in myco-pending,application SerialV N. 20,730, flied April 4,1925.

VJhile-l prefer to employ the form of ma# terial as disclosed in my saidprior reissue patent, it will be understood that I do not wish tobelimited to the use of ,particular form of4 material or to anyparticular iluroportions ofv ingredients except as the same maybespeciically claimed. VIvzhave. had very good results, however, by theuse of a mixture ofthe following form,-1OO pounds of calcinedl gypsum,1% ounces of commercial retarder, 3v pounds of a suitable carbonate suchasA calcium carbonate, and 6 pounds of aluminum sulphate containing itswater, of c'rystalliiation, all of such ingredients being finely' groundand thoroughly mixed in a dry state.` i Y V I claim: i

1. The method of making a sleeper ll which consists in locatingsleepers, then adding water to a quantity of a material that will expandand set in expanded condition, then pouring the mass on the floor, thenallowing the mass to partly rise and partly set, and then sereedin'g thematerial between the sleepers to evenly spread the same and Y provide arelatively hard surface. y

2. The method of making a sleeper fill which consists'in locatingsleepers, then adding water to a quantityvof a material' thatV willexpand and set in expanded condition,

then pouring the mass on the floor, allowing the mass to partly rise andpartly set, and then screeding the material between the sleepers toevenly yspread the same and provide a relatively hard'surface, theleveling being -done at"suchpoint that the subsequentplastic kmass ofmaterial that will expand v and set in expanded condition, 'thenimmediately pouring the mass around the sleepers, and then leveling thematerial at a point below the plane of the tops of thesleepers,l

the level being established at such point that the subsequent rising ofthe material Will bring its leurface to `substantially the plane of theAtops of the sleepers.

4L. The method of embedding 'sleepers on a floor base which Consists inlocating thesleepers on said base, then providing a relatively luidmixture of a material that Will Vexpand and set in expandedcondition,then pouring the mass on a floor base around the sleepers, and thenleveling and screeding the material at suoli time and at such pointbelovv the tops of the sleepers that the. subsequent rise of thematerial Will bring its surface to substantially the plane of the topsof the sleepers.- y Y 5. The method of embedding vsleepers whichconsists in providing a lastie mass that will expand vand set incellular form,`

'25 then pouring vsaid mass on to a base and permitting the mass to riseand to embrace the supporting surfaces of the sleepers, and thenleveling and screeding the top of the mass to provide arelatively denseand hard surface.

6. `The method of insulating a floor, which fl comprises' pouring on thedeck of the floor a free-flowing plastic mass vadapted to I spread in asingle unit over'thewhole face of the deck 'and adapted to expand andset in expanded` cellular condition, and then bef -fore the setting andhardening process 1s complete breaking down the cellular form of thematerial at the top surface for forming an integral face of non-cellularmaterial.

tegral top face mation.

Signed at Chicago, Illinois, this of January, A. D. 1.925.

HA'RQLD s. Asi-IENHURST.

